Stearns

Check out the latest episode of my Graphic Sales Stories podcast.

As your business scales, recruiting and onboarding often prove more challenging than you might anticipate. Most scale-ups wait too long to invest properly in these areas. A solid investment doesn’t have to be expensive. It’s about thoughtful planning and disciplined execution. For how to do this right, get the playbook here: https://lnkd.in/eDsjK4sT #scaleup #hiring #onboarding

Some tactics for creating empathy between your sales and marketing teams.

9 Years, 9 Lessons - Insights from Scaling GTM Teams... 1. Recruiting and onboarding are harder to scale than you think. Most companies wait too long to take this seriously. You might think, “I’m only hiring a couple of reps at a time; I don’t need to invest in this yet.” That mindset leads to short employee tenure and a costly cycle of wasted time and money. 2. The types of people you’ll need to hire will change. As your team scales, your hiring strategy must evolve to meet new demands. Many of the people who contributed to your company’s early success may not have the skills required for its next phase of growth. 3. You probably don’t know how you win deals—and that’s a problem. If you want to replicate your success, you need to uncover and document your winning formula. 4. Design your sales process to handle a much larger team. A scalable sales process will speed up the ramping period for new reps and give you the ability to measure, learn and improve as you grow. 5. Narrow your ICP but design it to scale. When reps are given too much freedom. This when you find you're in trouble. Defining a clear Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is crucial, but ensure it allows for long-term growth. 6. Fix your CRM now or face expensive consequences. In the early stages CRMs get filled with good and bad data, intentional and unintentional fields, stages and processes. Without a deliberate plan and cleanup it only gets worse and more expensive. 7. Align your marketing and sales team before it’s too late. Avoid the dreaded silos forming by taking deliberate action to unite these departments. 8. Culture matters the most. A strong, intentional culture is the foundation of everything else. Take the time to define, document and practice it and it will sustain itself. 9. Transparency strengthens culture. Being open about everything—good or bad—helps reinforce a strong culture. Get the full blueprint here: https://lnkd.in/eCymFEHq What lesson have you learned the hard way? #sales #gtm #scaleup #salesstrategy #strategy #gotomarket

If you're a scaling company, these lessons are here to help...

If you're a sales leader looking to boost revenue growth or rapidly scale your team, don’t miss Tom's insights on Kieran Krohn's Growth Unlocked Podcast. You'll get a blueprint for scaling properly and several pitfalls to avoid. Link directly to the podcast in the first comment. #SalesLeadership #SalesLeaders #SalesStrategy #B2BSales #SalesManagement #RevenueGrowth #SalesExcellence

If your boss is paying too much attention to the details of your work it means either: 1. They’re a micromanager. 2. They don’t have confidence in you. It’s wise to distinguish between the two. Naturally, we all tend to get defensive and assume we’re being micromanaged. But before jumping to that conclusion, take a step back and consider: - Is it new behavior? - Do they do this to everyone else they manage? If it's not new behavior and they do it to everyone they manage, they may be a micromanager, and you may need to consider if this is a long-term situation you want to stay in. However, if it's new and focused only on you, it may be a sign that your boss lacks confidence in your work, which means you’ll need to take action. Here’s how: 1. Have a direct conversation to uncover the real issue. For example: “I’ve noticed you’ve been more involved in the details of my work lately. Is there something specific I could improve or adjust to meet your expectations?” 2. Ask for clear direction on how to earn their confidence. “What can I do to give you the confidence to leave these details to me?” 3. Set a checkpoint to review progress. “Great, let’s establish some checkpoints over the next month to ensure I’m on track and meeting your expectations.” Taking these steps will help you address the situation head-on and improve your working relationship with your boss, whether it’s a case of micromanagement or a confidence issue. If the cause of the micromanagement was a lack of confidence, you’ll have effectively taken control of your own performance improvement plan. In summary: Don’t misread your boss’s intent. If they are truly a micromanager, you may want to consider whether this is the right environment for you. But if it’s about confidence, tackle it head-on. Address the issue directly, and you’ll not only avoid being fired or driven crazy, but you’ll also elevate your standing in the process! Conversely: If you're the boss, recognize what you're doing. If you're micromanaging, why? 1. Address it directly with your direct report. 2. Give them clear direction on how they can earn your confidence. 3. Set a series of checkpoints and allow them the freedom to gain your confidence back. 4. If they can't or won't, find a way to move them out of the role. Perhaps there's another role that would better fit their skills.

A healthy discussion on envisioning or re-envisioning what sales training should become.

Want to improve your ability to connect with customers on a human level using AI? This series is for you. Introducing SalesEQ™ for AI – an ongoing series of lessons to help you integrate AI into your sales workflow. In these free lessons, you’ll learn how to: - Better understand your buyers and their challenges - Enhance your discovery meetings with AI-assisted analysis and question development - Save time by letting AI handle tedious tasks, so you can focus on the human side of selling Sinc these insights are too detailed* for a quick LinkedIn read, they’re available in the blog section of my website. To be notified when each lesson is posted, sign up for the SalesEQ Newsletter on my site. See the first three posts now at www.stearns.io/blog *another word for long #sales #ai #salesadvice #salestips

When a rep can see their activity has a positive result and that they're improving over time, they'll naturally be motivated to make more calls. Here's how: